Kelis on Her New Album 'Food': "We Were Just Joking and Eating and Cooking and Writing"

Kelis' upcoming album is titled Food, and it features very literalist song titles like "Hooch," "Cobbler," "Friday Fish Fry," "Biscuits n' Gravy" and first single "Jerk Ribs." But as the R&B singer tells Fuse's Esteban Serrano, she sees food not as an inspiration, but as inseparable part of her life.

"I don't know if it influences the album," she says of her cuisine. "I can't separate one thing from the other, because it's my life and it's what I do. The [first] song is called 'Jerk Ribs' because I made jerk ribs one day and the band was there, so everyone was like 'This is amazing!' So we just kept it."

That said, she does characterize the making of the album as something akin to the communal vibes of a cookout.

"We had a great time, just having fun making music. There was no grand scheme or plan," she explains. "I didn't ever think about food titles, we were just joking and eating and cooking and writing, so then it just came that way."

She said this all while standing in her own food truck, which was set up in Austin at SXSW 2014. There she was selling jerk ribs, duck confit sliders, shredded beef sliders and coleslaw, all of which were her own recipes. Esteban, thankfully, got a taste after the interview.

For more from Austin, tune into Fuse News tonight at 7:30/6:30C. Find Fuse using our Channel Finder and be sure to keep up with all of our coverage from SXSW 2014.